Desai named the director of new UCSF bioengineering initiative

UC San Francisco’s already successful research and education program in bioengineering is taking another evolutionary leap forward with the February 15, 2019 announcement of a new initiative being led by Tejal Desai, PhD, chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences (BTS), a joint department of the UCSF Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine.

The Health Innovation Via Engineering (HIVE) program is designed to give bioengineering research at UCSF the organizational framework to exploit collaborations among bioengineers and other scientists across and beyond UCSF, with the goal of creating transformative technologies—from replacement tissues to new tools to diagnose disease—aimed at improving health.

“Bioengineering research put down its roots at UCSF in 2009 with the launch of the joint School of Pharmacy and School of Medicine BTS department,” explained B. Joseph Guglielmo, PharmD, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy. Led by Kathy Giacomini, PhD, and Sarah Nelson, PhD, the founding department co-chairs, the goal of BTS was to speed the innovation of medicines and medical devices toward sophisticated, effective, targeted 'intelligent' therapeutics by bringing together scientists whose expertise is building and computing with scientists with expertise in the pharmaceutical sciences and genetics.

“BTS has succeeded in initiating and cultivating these successful relationships. HIVE, which is now a campus-level organization reporting to UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Daniel Lowenstein, MD, is our next big important step forward,” Guglielmo explained.

Desai is continuing as BTS department chair while leading the campus HIVE initiative forward.

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